LIRNEasia in “Myanmar: Telecoms’ Last Frontier”

In its report titled, “Myanmar: Telecoms’ Last Frontier” the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) explores the realities of Myanmar’s telecom environment. The government of Myanmar wants to leapfrog “from 10 (SIMs per 100 people) to 80 in five years.” LIRNEasia’s chair Rohan Samarajiva has concluded his report in this publication:

The challenges before Myanmar are many. But, if the mistakes of its neighbors and peers are avoided and lessons learned and put into effect, the target of 10 to 80 in five years can be achieved.

While outlining Myanmar’s strategy for Universal Service Fund, Rohan is explicit at the very beginning of his another paper in the same publication:

We at LIRNEasia have been critical of universal service subsidies. Our objections have been based on evidence of lack of targeting; the tendency to favor incumbents; the fact they were taxing poor mobile users and harming the Budget Telecom Network business model; and the slow pace of disbursing the collected funds. That said, we believe there is a case for universal service subsidies in Myanmar.